Ukiyo-e and Beliefs of Common People in the Edo Period -Focusing on the Representation of Sumo Wrestlers-

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19949
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0101:Philosophy, art, and related fields
• Research Institution: Okayama University
• Principal Investigator: Okubo Noriko 岡山大学, 社会文化科学学域, 准教授 (80620252)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 相撲絵 / 庶民信仰 / 江戸時代 / 浮世絵 / 手形 / 伊勢参宮双六 / 七福神 / おかげ参り

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Various customs and folklore exist in Japan, but many of them are vaguely accepted without clear documentation of their origins. The purpose of this study was to examine the reality of such beliefs widely shared among the common people by using visual materials, mainly ukiyoe. Through the project, we were able to show the process by which wrestlers' handprints came to be treated as good luck charms, the depiction of scenes to enhance the realism of the journey in Sugoroku based on the Ise pilgrimage, the ingenuity to reflect the distance of the journey, and the confusion and clarification between the seven gods of good fortune, Jurojin and Fukurokuju. These achievements suggest some aspects of popular beliefs that developed during the Edo period.

Free Research Field

日本美術史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本には、招福や魔除けをはじめとし、現世をより良く生きるための様々な信仰が伝えられる。そのような信仰の形は、日本文化を語る上で重要な要素でありながら未だ明らかでない部分は多く、研究の必要性がある。本課題で取り組んだ力士の手形に関する調査及び研究は、当初の記録を目的としたものが次第に呪術的な色彩を帯び、信仰の対象へと転じていく過程が、現存する手形、浮世絵、文献を組み合わせることでより明確化された。本研究を通じ、視覚資料から現象を読み解く美術史的なアプローチを、従来文献を中心に行われてきた研究分野と組み合わせることでより発展させる可能性を改めて示すことができたと考える。